Xie Shenghua asked incredulously, "Is someone really cultivating? Why are there one, two, three, four, five, six, seven colors!"
The others' attention had originally been on the massive spiritual energy vortex. It was only after Xie Shenghua's exclamation that they noticed the vortex contained seven colors of spiritual energy.
Seven colors!
What did that mean!
On the Tianyuan Continent, the color of a spirit cultivator's spiritual energy was determined by the attribute of their spirit root. For example, someone with a water spirit root would have blue spiritual energy, and conversely, someone with blue spiritual energy would have a water spirit root.
This meant that the person cultivating there possessed a seven-spirit root!
Individuals with dual spirit roots were already rare, triple spirit roots were considered one in a million, and quadruple spirit roots were even rarer. In ten thousand years, only Ye Lingyuan had appeared with a five-spirit root.
Now, a seven-spirit root cultivator had appeared. This couldn't be described as merely astonishing.
"Who is cultivating there? How can such a monstrous talent appear in this world?"
Li Luo quickly searched his mind for names of peerless prodigies, but apart from the Underworld King Ye Lingyuan, he couldn't find anyone who fit the description.
Therefore, he said uncertainly, "Do you think... it could be His Highness the Underworld King?"
Xie Shenghua nodded. "Yes, in this world, only a monster like the Underworld King could cause such a commotion."
Fu Liuyun frowned, then stated with certainty, "No! It's not the Underworld King!"
"Not the Underworld King?"
Xiong Tai, Li Luo, and Xie Shenghua looked at him with confusion.
Fu Liuyun's brows furrowed even tighter. "Yes! Firstly, if it were the Underworld King, why would he be here? Secondly, the Underworld King has been famous for years; why has such a phenomenon never appeared before?"
Xiong Tai and Li Luo were momentarily stumped, unsure how to respond.
Xie Shenghua, however, retorted, "Why can't the Underworld King come here? With divine beasts appearing, wouldn't everyone want to try their luck? As for why this hasn't happened before, would you be willing to expose your strength in broad daylight?"
Xiong Tai and Li Luo were again taken aback.
While Xie Shenghua's explanation was a bit forced, it did hold some logic.
Fu Liuyun pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I can guarantee that the person isn't the Underworld King. He reached the Saint King realm over ten days ago. The people from the Fengyun Trading Firm can attest to this. It's said that after his breakthrough, he even exchanged blows with Ji Ran, the contributing elder of the Shen family."
Ji Ran, the contributing elder of the Shen family, was known to be at the middle stage of the Saint King realm by those from the four major powers. If Fu Liuyun's account was true, then the news of the Underworld King breaking through to the Saint King realm should be accurate.
Xiong Tai, Li Luo, and Xie Shenghua exchanged glances.
Although the commotion caused by the person in the valley was immense, it was clearly not the work of a Saint King realm expert. If it wasn't Ye Lingyuan, then who could it be?
Suddenly, an image flashed through the minds of the four.
Xiong Tai: "Could it be her?"
Li Luo: "Only she entered the valley!"
Xie Shenghua: "Impossible! How could it be her?"
Fu Liuyun: "It must be her, no doubt!"
Just then, the spiritual energy vortex, which had been stagnant for a day, expanded slightly once more. The four were certain that the brief pause in the vortex must have been when that person broke through. However, when they carefully sensed the realm of the person after the breakthrough, they felt a peculiar sensation.
The realm had not yet reached the Qi Condensation stage, yet the aura made all four of them, who were at the Core Formation stage, feel a flicker of unease.
Still, the four finally confirmed that the culprit behind such a massive disturbance was Zi Linling. After all, the only one who had not broken through to the Qi Condensation stage was Zi Linling, who was at the ninth level of Body Tempering. As for the fleeting unease, they dismissed it as a "hallucination."
Zi Linling finally felt the precarious barrier of the tenth level of Body Tempering shatter. A sharp pain shot through her mind, making her consciousness hazy. The miniature version of herself in her sea of consciousness suddenly opened its eyes and coldly commanded, "Hold onto your core self, protect your sea of consciousness. As long as your consciousness remains, you will overcome this trial!"
Zi Linling's muddled mind instantly cleared slightly. She quickly followed the miniature Zi Linling's instructions, focusing her soul power to prevent her consciousness from dissipating. The mind, being the most vulnerable part of a human, was extremely sensitive to pain.
As time ticked by, the pain in her mind made Zi Linling wish she were dead. However, she held onto her core self. At this moment, she was immensely grateful for the rigorous training she endured in the Zi family in her previous life, which had forged her will into an unshakeable foundation.
An incense stick later, she felt a lightness spread through her body, and the torment that felt beyond human suffering finally vanished.
Tenth level of Body Tempering—Brain Tempering Realm! Breakthrough!
Vaguely, she saw seven beams of light of different colors descend upon a water-blue planet. With a "bang," they transformed into a hazy mist and then completely disappeared.
Immediately after, a dark prison appeared in Zi Linling's mind. A woman who looked exactly like her was tied to a rack, her eyes closed, bleeding profusely. Zi Linling's heart ached inexplicably.
The woman seemed to sense her presence and suddenly opened her eyes, smiling faintly, "Lin'er, is that you?"
Just as Zi Linling was about to rush forward, the scene in her mind shifted again. Below a bottomless cliff, a handsome, powerful man was wearily swinging his sword. Monster beasts fell one after another under his blade, their blood splattering all over him, yet he paid it no mind. The man's consciousness was already in disarray, but he muttered to himself, "I can't stop! I can't die! Yue'er and Lin'er are still waiting for me!"
The feeling, both strange and familiar, caused Zi Linling's heart to bleed. Just as she was about to charge forward and snatch the sword from the man's hand, the scene abruptly ended.
With her eyes closed, Zi Linling instinctively raised her hand to touch her face and found two streams of tears rolling down her cheeks.
"The medicinal power of the Qi Condensation Pill is not exhausted. Focus your mind and gather your spirit to break through to the Qi Condensation realm in one go!"
The miniature Zi Linling's voice echoed in her mind once more.
Zi Linling startled and quickly collected her thoughts, guiding her spiritual energy to circulate through her meridians. One cycle, two cycles... After fifteen cycles, Zi Linling felt the barrier within her body begin to loosen again. She dared not pause, continuously guiding her spiritual energy to impact the loosening barrier.
"Bang! Bang! Bang..." After a hundred impacts, she finally heard a faint "crack."
Breakthrough!
Early stage of Qi Condensation!